


Cold Bitten

by EvelynThursday



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hypothermia, Unconsciousness, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:02:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21617296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvelynThursday/pseuds/EvelynThursday
Summary: Yaz, Ryan and Graham can only look out across the cold and frozen landscape and wait for the Doctor to return. When she does it is not under her own power.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 80





	Cold Bitten

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday to me! I have hit the big three zero so I have this fic to offer as a gift from me to everyone!

“Where could she be?” Asked Yaz, looking out across the snowy landscape. The trees were laden with snow and were drooping towards the ground.

“Dunno,” said Ryan, shaking the snow off his hair. “But this storm is gettin’ worse. There's nothing we can do until Khulan and Tarkhan get back, we don't want to get lost in the blizzard.” Yaz said nothing as she stared out among the trees. Ryan put a hand on her shoulder. “Come on Yaz, the Doctor'll be back. Graham has the right idea waiting in the warm. Let's join him.”

Yaz reluctantly followed Ryan back into the yurt, letting the leather door flap limply behind her.

“Anything?”Asked Graham from beside the wood burner.

“Nothin’,” said Ryan. “And the weather is getting worse.”

“They'll find her. She's probably still at the facility, talking the ears off the scientists I expect. You know how she is. Stop worrying.”

“I've just got a bad feeling,” said Yaz, dropping down onto the furs surrounding the hearth. “She said she would be here hours ago. What if something has happened?”

“The best place for us is here. She did say that it would be too cold for us to go to the facility with her, resilient alien biology and all that. And too boring. To be honest I've enjoyed the break from all the running- I’m not as fit as you two young-uns. Behind all that fur I don't think the Nergui are all that different from the nomadic humans I've seen on the tv.”

The Doctor had been more excited than usual when they had landed on the planet this morning, jumping around the console and babbling about all manner of scientific things that went over the heads of all three of her friends.

“Right, gang!” She had said, spinning towards them. “Welcome to the planet of Odgerel, home to lots of snow and one of the foremost research facilities this side of the galaxy. I’ve arranged for you to stay with a lovely couple called Tarkhan and Khulan whilst I nip in a see if they have a replacement plasma actuator. I don’t want to interrupt their experiments with the old girl's engines so I can’t get too close with the Tardis and the atmosphere is too cold for you lot to stay warm for long even with cold weather gear. Well, that’s not quite true, I do have some self heating coats somewhere but to be honest I think you might get bored listening to me talking about ionic particle theory. Shouldn’t take long and it’ll give you time to chat to the locals. Don’t say I didn’t give you culture when you asked. The Nergui are a nomadic tribe still clinging onto existence, rejecting technology whilst the rest of their planet is embracing interstellar travel. But they are still a friendly bunch, hosting outsiders when they travel through their lands. You’ll be safe with them.” She had paused, examining her companions’ faces. “I was rambling on again, wasn't I. I still haven't got the hang of shutting up.”

But the last time they had seen her was over half a day ago, watching her trudge through the knee height snow with Tarkhan by her side as the three humans huddled in their thick coats by the side of a large yurt. The only accession to the inclement climate was a scarf around her neck, handmade by Khulan. She had said that she would be back a few hours ago and now a storm was starting to rage outside, the wind buffeting the canvas sides of the one room house and whistling across the top of the chimney in the center. 

Tarkhan and Khulan had gone off the search for her, their thick fur shielding them from most of the cold, leaving Yaz, Ryan and Graham to worry alone.

There was a sudden blast of frigid air from doorway, blowing a flurry of snow around the room. A figure soon followed and the leather flap fell behind them, keeping out the frozen weather once more. 

Tarkhan was taller than Ryan, coated in a thick layer of dark chocolate fur and dressed in a colourful hand woven shawl wrapped around his shoulders. His feet were not unlike an earth camel’s, perfect for walking through thick snow, and his thick forearms ended in agile four digited paws. He was otherwise humanoid, though Graham secretly thought that he, like the rest of his tribe, looked like an alien lioness.

And in his arms was the Doctor. 

She was limp, eyes shut and skin either cold-bitten red or paper white. Her clothes were visibly damp, coat a dark shade of gray with the absorbed water, and there was snow in her messy, wavy hair. She looked small, almost childlike, cradled in the larger alien’s arms. She was without the scarf she had left with.

Yaz and Ryan immediately shot up from their nest of blankets and raced to Tarkhan’s side. They clamoured over each other. 

“What’s happened to her?”

“Where did you find her?”

“I just found her lying in the snow,” said Tarkhan, crossing the tent to the bed that Graham had just cleared. “She's alive but very cold.”

Tarkhan had just lowered the Doctor to the bed when the door flap opened a second time. The snow that was blown in was thicker than before.

“Tarkhan, you’ve found her! Thank the Goddess you have found her!” Tarkhan turned to see his wife shaking the snow off her fur.

“Khulan, my love! You’re back safe! I found her unconscious out in the woods. What did the scientists say?”

Khulan crossed over to them. She had the Doctor’s missing scarf clutched in one paw.

“They said that she had already left but I had never seen the scientists so agitated. I knew something wasn’t right. I found her scarf on the floor outside one of the biology labs. I am so glad you found her.”

“We can't worry about what happened to her now, we need to warm her up before the cold kills her.”

Whilst Khulan and Tarkhan talked Yaz had knelt at the Doctor's side and wrapped her fingers around the Time Lord's wrist.

“I'm no expert on frostbite,” she said to their hosts, “but I don't think her fingers look too good. And her skin is freezing. But she's got a pulse; it's slow and faint but there.”

“Her fingers don't look too far gone and with the Goddess’s blessing her feet will be the same. We need to remove her wet clothes so we can warm her up.”

All five of them gathered round the Doctor’s bed, three humans and two Nerguiens. Tarkhan lifted the Doctor up by the shoulders whilst Yaz and Ryan started to ease her wet coat off her shoulders.

The warmth in the yurt, or perhaps the strange feeling of strange hands on her, seemed to rouse the Doctor a little and she started fighting the hands that were trying to remove her coat. She fought harder as the hands got more insistent. It was clear she didn’t know where she was.

“Woah, Doctor, it’s ok. You’re safe.”

“No...no. You can't do this!”

“Doctor, it me. It’s Yaz. It’s ok.”

“And Ryan. Graham’s here too.”

“No! Get off me!”

The Doctor continued to fight despite Yaz and Ryan’s words, fighting them off with a surprising strength for someone previously unconscious and limp. Her eyes were glassy and unseeing. 

Between the three of them Ryan, Yaz and Tarkhan managed to wrestle the Doctor’s coat off her, which Khulan put near the fire to dry. 

Tarkhan laid the Doctor back down and stepped away, hoping that removing his presence would calm the Doctor down. It didn’t. As soon as she was free she shot up and tried to escape the bed. Yaz caught her by the shoulders and forced her to lie down. She noticed that on one of the Doctor’s flailing limbs there was a smear of red blood soaked into the inside sleeve of her white shirt.

Graham managed to get one boot off her feet but got a kick to the face with the other.

“Oi, Doc! We're only trying to help.”

“I don't think she can help it,” piped up Yaz from where she was attempting to hold the Doctor down. “I think she's been drugged with something, her pupils are huge. Just like the party revellers on a Friday night back home and she's being just as uncooperative as them too.”

“Enough,” said Tarkhan, carefully using his strength to overpower the Doctor, crossing her arms across her chest and tucking her hands in her armpits.

“Cover her with the blankets. We can remove her wet clothes when she’s warmed up and hopefully will stop fighting us.”

The Doctor’s strength seemed to fizzle out as they wrapped her in thick blankets and soon she was still and as unresponsive as before. She looked like an egyptian mummy, albeit one covered with stripes of blue, yellow, white and green. She even had a scarf wrapped around her wet hair.

Graham took the opportunity to unlace and remove the Doctor’s other boot and carefully took off her sodden socks. Her feet were the same state as her hands; toes white and feet an angry red. Khulan helped him dry them and wrap them in furs and more blankets. 

“There is nothing more we can do but wait,” said Tarkhan. “And prey to the Goddess that we were not too late to save her. The fact that she is not shivering cannot be a good sign.”

“Can’t we warm her up quicker?” Asked Ryan. “Put her near the fire or somn’t? Or give her your equivalent of a hot water bottle?”

“I don’t know what it is like with her species but with mine warming a person up too quickly can kill them. It is safest for her to warm up on her own.”

“It’s the same with ours, I think,” said Yaz. “Thank you for finding her and helping her.”

“You are our guests and it is to our dishonour that this happened when you were in our care. We will do everything in our power to care for the Doctor and make sure you all are comfortable and safe until the Doctor can return to your ship.” He looked over to his wife who was now by the fire peeling what looked like a large green beetroot with a small knife. She nodded at him. “If you excuse me I need to make sure the herd is sheltered from the worst of the storm. Khulan is starting to prepare the evening meal, she will make sure you are fed whilst you are here.”

He left with another blast of frozen air and snow as the door flap was lifted and lowered. That left Ryan, Yaz and Graham standing by the Doctor’s bed.

“What should we do now?” Asked Ryan. “We can’t go out and the Doctor is unconscious. We’re stuck in here.”

“I’d suggest helping Khulan with dinner, it’s only polite,” said Graham. “You know I am no good with cooking so I’ll keep an eye on the Doctor. And with this blizzard blowing we can’t find out what happened to the Doctor so there is no point worrying about it.”

Khulan was grateful when Yaz and Ryan offered to help her prepare dinner, setting them to work chopping and peeling vegetables, Ryan opting to chop as he didn’t trust himself to be able to peel with a knife without also removing his fingers.

“Do you think the food is safe for us?” Asked Ryan quietly as Khulan rose to rummage in a low cabinet nearby. “The Doctor would have said not to eat anything if it was harmful but we weren't planning on staying this long.”

“I'll get her screwdriver and check,” replied Yaz. “I hope it is still in her coat pocket.” The sonic screwdriver was thankfully still in its usual pocket in the Doctor’s damp coat, the Sheffield steel warmed from the heat of the fire nearby.

Yaz sat back down and scanned the food just as the Doctor had shown her. “Safe, I think.” She tucked the sonic in her own jacket pocket and continued peeling the vegetables.

Whilst the kids helped with the food Graham sat by the Doctor's side, listening to her breathe. It was slower than it should be and Graham hoped that he wouldn’t hear it stop. He didn't want this to be Grace all over again. This wonderful woman had shown him the universe and he didn't want it to end. She had to survive this. 

He carefully worked a hand under the pile of blankets covering the Doctor. He found her cold hand lying limply on her chest, nestled in the thick furs she was covered with and held it. 

‘Hold on Doctor,’ he thought to her. ‘We survived the vacuum of space, you can survive this.’

Tarkhan entered the yurt again in another flurry of thick snow, with a large chunk of frozen meat in one hand.

Khulan took her husband aside and spoke quietly to him. Yaz strained to hear what was being said.

“I saw soldiers in the woods. They seemed to be searching for something. What if they were hunting for her?”

“They should be sheltering from the blizzard by now. We should be safe until it passes.”

“Sorry to eavesdrop,” said Yaz, “but if you think the soldiers were hunting for the Doctor they probably were. She has a habit of attracting trouble. And she told us once that there are people who would love to study the anatomy of her species and the fact that you found her scarf by a biology lab is not a good sign.”

Graham sighed from his seat at the Doctor’s bedside.

“We’ll leave as soon as the storm breaks. We don’t want to get you in trouble. If she hasn’t woken by then we’ll get her to our ship somehow.”

“Storms like this can last for days. You will stay with us until it is safe to travel and we will guide you back to your ship.”

“Thank you’” said Yaz, eyes drifting to the Doctor before flicking back to their hosts. “We would be helpless without you.”

* * *

Supper was a quiet affair: food hearty, spicy and warming and safe for humans (and Time Lords - a portion was set aside for the Doctor when she awoke).

When the bowls were cleared away Tarkhan sat near the door, whittling what looked like antler, whilst Khulan retreated to her small loom and soon the tent was filled with the rhythmic clacking of wood hitting wood.

Graham and Ryan stayed near the fire chatting as Yaz sat with the Doctor. 

“I think she’s starting to shiver,” said Yaz to the boys. “That’s a good sign, right?”

“Not yet,” said Tarkhan looking up from his carving. “She may still perish. We cannot know for sure that she will survive until she is warm and awake.” He watched Yaz's face fall. “But she has survived this long when others would have perished so you should not lose hope.”

Yaz nodded silently, eyes not leaving the Doctor's face. 

Graham rose from his blanket next to the log burner after a while to sit with Yaz. She had been silent since her exchange with Tarkhan, fingers picking at the edge of one of the Doctor's blankets.

“She looks like she’s in pain.” said Yaz quietly. The Doctor's shivers had started to become more obvious and lines were appearing on her brow. She seemed to be frowning in her sleep.

“You know what it feels like to go from somewhere really cold to somewhere really warm.” replied Graham. “I’m guessing that’s what she’s feeling right now, but worse. But at least she’s still unconscious so I hope she can’t really feel it.” 

* * *

The Doctor's shivers got worse as the hours progressed, as did the storm outside. The yurt was shaking at the more violent gusts of wind and despite the heat from the fire the temperature inside had fallen.

“Do you think she’ll be ok?” Asked Ryan as he joined Yaz at the Doctor’s bedside. Graham had already turned in for the night, snoring from a pile of blankets near the wood burner. Ryan didn't think he could sleep for a while yet, too worried about their alien friend.

“I don’t know. We didn’t cover hyperthermia much on Police first aid training, we focused more on stab wounds and heart attacks.” She looked at the Doctor’s still pale face, watching her breathe. “But I think she’s doing ok. If she was going to die wouldn’t she have done so already? So I think the shivering is good and I think her skin feels warmer too. But she’s still really cold. And then there the frostbite to consider too. Can she fly the Tardis if she’s missing some fingers? Her hands...” She had to stop talking as she suddenly found a lump in her throat.

“It’s ok Yaz.” She was shocked to find a tear had made its way down a cheek and hastily swiped it away. “The Doctor’s a fighter. And Tarkhan didn’t seem too concerned about the frostbite. Nothing was black so I don’t think she’s going to lose anything.”

Yaz swiped away another errant tear.

“God, this is so embarrassing. Sorry Ryan, I don’t know what’s got over me.”

“You’re tired, Yaz. Go to sleep. I’ll watch the Doctor for a bit.”

“You'll wake me when she wakes up?”

“Sure, promise.”

Yaz reluctantly left the Doctor’s side and found the spot by the fire that she had earlier claimed as her own. She shifted furs and blankets around to create a nest for herself to keep her warm overnight.

The yurt was cooler than the humans preferred as the Nerguien's fur kept them warm, but there were plenty of colourful hand woven blankets and furs and the log burner in the centre of the tent to keep them warm.

Yaz soon fell asleep, lulled by the warmth of the fire and her exhaustion despite her worry for the Doctor.

Tarkhan stowed his carving a little while later, walking over to the Doctor's bed, frowning at her state. She was still shivering, though not as violently as before. He placed a paw on her forehead.

“She should not be taking this long to warm up,” he said. “Your friend said she was drugged. Perhaps that is why she is still cold and will not wake up.” 

“But she's still getting better, right?” Asked Ryan. “She's looking better, I think.” 

“I cannot say for certain, she has been cold for far too long and we do not know what she has been drugged with. She may still lose her fight or may live but not wake. But we must not give up hope whilst she still breathes.” Ryan nodded, smothering a yawn with the back of his hand. “You are tired, rest with the others. I shall sit with the Doctor.”

Ryan shook his head.

“No. One of us should stay with her. It aint that I don’t trust ya, but you aint a friend. No offence.”

“No offence taken. I understand. A friendly presence can be nothing but beneficial. But Khulan or I will maintain vigil with you throughout this night, in case you or the Doctor need anything."

* * *

The night passed slowly for Ryan, wrapped up in a blanket, sitting on a stool at the unconscious Doctor’s bedside. Everything in the tent was quiet, drowned out by the howling of the wind and creaking of trees outside. Khulan sat in her corner, a little nook nestled between a cabinet and the metal frame of the second bed on the other side of the wood burner. She was tying the ends of the scarf she had made on her loom; the colours and patterns matched the blankets scattered around the yurt. Tarkhan lay on the other bed, asleep. 

Yaz and Graham, too, were sleeping, curled up under blankets and furs and both snoring softly. Ryan could feel himself start to drift off, exhaustion weighing him down and soothed by the familiar snoring of his granddad. He tried to resist sleep, recalling the many nights he had gamed through until dawn had peeked between his bedroom curtains, but morning felt so long ago and there was no coffee or tea to drink or anything to retain his attention. 

He did not remember falling asleep.

* * *

“She’s stopped shivering.” A voice spoke in the dark. “And she looks better.” A few seconds pause and rustling of fabric. “Feels warmer.”

“Her breathing sounds better too. Stronger, I think.” Another voice, familiar, safe.

“Doctor, can you hear me?”

“Quiet, you’ll wake Ryan.”

“‘M, ‘wake.” Ryan rolled over, blinking tired eyes open to peer blearily at the two people standing by his feet. He was unsurprised to find Graham and Yaz there, recognising their voices as he woke up. He looked around, mind slowly waking up as he refamiliarised himself with where he had fallen asleep.

He sat up suddenly, remembering last night.

“Doctor! How’s the Doctor?”

“She’s ok,” said Yaz. “She’s warmed up now.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“Do not worry,” said Tarkhan as he stoked the fire. “Khulan or I were always with her. You would not have slept if you hadn't needed to.”

“It’s ok, Ryan,” said Yaz. “I didn’t expect you to try and stay up all night.”

“How has she been? Has she woken up?” Ryan untangled himself from his blankets and perched himself on the Doctor’s bedside as he spoke.

“She talked in her sleep but did not wake,” said Tarkhan.

“What was she saying?” Asked Graham.

“Most of it was in a language I did not understand but she seemed distressed.” Tarkhan shut the door of the wood burner and rose from his crouch. “She seems to be resting peacefully now, hopefully she will wake up soon.” A huge gust of wind outside rattled the frame of the yurt, making the humans jump. “As you can hear the storm is still fierce. It does not look like it will be breaking before midday.”

They all turned as one as a groan sounded from behind them. Graham lent over the Doctor’s bed.

“Doc? You with us?”

The Doctor’s breathing increased as her head tossed from side to side, eyes screwed shut. She muttered something in a language none of them could understand.

“Doctor?” 

The Doctor’s eyes opened but they darted from side to side, seeming to not see what was in front of them. She tried to move but was restrained by the blankets covering her. Her breathing increased further, her unintelligible mutterings increasing in volume before her voice switched to English.

“No, let me go.”

“Easy Doc, it’s just the blankets,” soothed Graham, trying to catch her eye.

“What do you want from me? Let me go!”

Graham planted a hand down on the bed either side of the Doctor’s head and lowered himself to her eye level in an attempt to gain her attention.

“Doctor,” he said forcefully, “look at me.” She looked up at him with wide eyes, panting for breath. “You are safe. We just wrapped you so tightly with the blankets that you can’t move. Just give us a minute and we’ll get you free.”

“Graham,” she breathed out, head dropping back onto the bed. “Sorry, didn’t know where I was for a bit there.”

“It’s ok, Doc. You were asleep for quite a while.”

“Fam?”

“All present and correct.” He moved out of the way so she could see Yaz standing a few feet away and Ryan sat by her feet. “Let's get this mound of blankets off you, you must be plenty hot under there by now.”

With Yaz's assistance Graham soon removed most of the Doctor's blankets, leaving the final few to protect her against the coolness of the yurt. Free from her confining cocoon the Doctor sat up on her elbows and surveyed the tent.

“Hi Khulan, hi Tarkhan!” she said, noticing the two who had kept themselves back from proceedings.

“Doctor,” said Tarkhan. “We are gladdened to see you well. How are you feeling?”

“A little stiff but once I start moving I’m sure that’ll go away.”

She pushed the blankets off herself and moved to get off the bed. She stilled as she sat on the edge of the bed. Looking down she pulled her shirt off her stomach, screwing up her nose at the unpleasant sensation of cloth sticking to her skin.

“Why am I rather damp?”

“We tried to get your wet clothes off you,” said Tarkhan, “but you were being rather uncooperative. We thought it better to try and start to warm you up rather than fight you some more.” She noticed Graham rubbing his cheek absentmindedly.

“I hope I didn't hurt anyone.”

“Only a few minor bruises,” Graham said, realising what he was doing and dropping his hand. “We're fine.”

“Let’s get you out of those wet things,” said Yaz. “Before you get cold again.” She looked over her shoulder at the two aliens still dawdling on the other side of the tent. “I’m sorry, but do you have anything we can dress the Doctor in? We might be able to spare a few layers between the three of us but she might not be warm enough with just them.”

“We don’t have anything like your clothes but we have some cloaks she can cover herself in. And there are plenty of blankets and scarves you can use.” Khulan crossed to a chest and withdrew a large pile of multicoloured fabrics, leaving them at the foot of the Doctor’s bed. “They should be plenty warm enough, I made them myself from the wool of our own herd and I have never had a complaint from anyone I have traded with.”

“Thank you,” said the Doctor. “I’m sure I can find something that will keep me toasty and warm.”

“We shall leave you alone to change,” said Tarkhan. “We need to check on and feed our herd so you do not need to hurry.” They disappeared through the door flap with a flurry of frozen white. 

After a brief discussion a selection of the humans’ clothes landed in a pile on the Doctor’s bed. In it contained one of Ryan’s long sleeved shirts, one of Graham’s several jumpers (“What? You said to wrap up warm!”) and Yaz’s over t-shirt. None of them could spare their trousers, mostly because none of them were vaguely the right size - the Doctor’s legs were far longer than Yaz’s, the closest on size. Khulan’s stash of blankets and shawls would make up the rest of the Doctor’s temporary attire.

“Boys,” said Yaz, motioning with her head to the other side of the yurt. “Shift. We’ll tell you when it is safe to turn around again.”

They moved, politely turning their backs and examined the carvings on the nearby cabinet with faux interest as the Doctor started to undress, her wet blue shirt more of a struggle to remove than normal. 

She stilled when she spotted the patch of blood near the crook of her left elbow, red stark against the white of her shirt. 

“How did you get hurt?” Asked Yaz, suddenly remembering spotting it the night before.

“They injected me with something. I fought back. The needle must have caught me, I only vaguely remember it hurting.” 

“I’ll take a look at it when we get your shirt off. They must have some sort of first aid kit around here somewhere.” Getting the Doctor’s white shirt off was more difficult than her blue, the fabric stubbornly sticking to her skin.

Once the shirt was removed and a blanket tossed over the Doctor’s shoulders Yaz could finally see how hurt she was. The skin under the patch of blood was thankfully only marred by a faint red line.

“Quick healing,” the Doctor said, rubbing the mark thoughtfully. “Comes in handy now and again.”

After a rub down with a blanket, dressing was an easier job than undressing. The Doctor was grateful for her friends’ donated clothing, her skin was chilling in the coolness of the yurt and Graham’s thin jumper was deceptively warm.

Top half warming and dry she stood up to change her lower half, groaning her way onto her feet.

“It hurts to move. Feels like I've been running all night.”

“We'll you were shivering for a long time. It makes sense that your muscles would be sore. And being that cold in the first place probably doesn't help.”

Within minutes the Doctor was finally completely dressed in dry clothes and the boys were allowed to turn around. They grinned at the sight, Ryan failing to hide his snort of laughter behind a cough. 

Wrapped in several shawls and a blanket, aided by a few scarves utilised as belts, the Doctor looked like she was wearing a toga. A woollen, multi coloured, pattern clashing toga.

“This feels so weird,” said the Doctor, looking down at the shawl she was wearing as a skirt. “There’s no fabric between my legs. I feel naked. Though it does remind me of the time I dressed as a cleaner. I was investigating some mutant maggots and needed to get into a secure facility. I thought I made a convincing looking cleaner, despite the white hair, and the, you know, being a man thing.”

Ryan seemed to choke on thin air.

“Wait. You cross dressed as a disguise. Really?!”

“Yeah. Is that weird?”

“Let’s just say it is not common and leave it at that.”

The Doctor sighed, remembering that adventure. “I miss Bessie. I hope UNIT are looking after her.”

“Who’s Bessie?” Asked Yaz. “A friend?”

“No, my car! She was bright yellow and I loved her, not that everybody else shared my sentiment. I shall have to ask Kate about it next time I see her.”

The tent went quiet then, the Doctor sat on the edge of the bed flexing her fingers and wiggling her toes, staring at her hands as if she couldn’t quite believe that they were there.

“You should eat something,” piped up Graham. “We saved you some of our dinner - it is safe for you to eat, we scanned it just like you showed us. Or Khulan said she would have breakfast ready in a bit.”

Ryan retrieved the bowl of food from near the log burner and made his slow, measured way back to the bed.

“Well, we assume that if it's safe for us it is safe for you,” he said when he handed it over, pleased that no drop had spilled. “Then again you do eat mud.”

“Oi! Mud is a useful source of geospatial and temporal information. Just because you don't have the sensory organs to process the information.” Graham grinned, feeling the familiar mix of confusion and disbelief.

“We've got our Doctor back.”

“You never lost me. Well, except when the scientists tried to drug me into submission and whatever happened after that ‘cause I have no idea.” She shrugged, dislodging the blanket from one shoulder. “How did I get here?”

“I found you unconscious in the snow,” said Tarkhan as he and his wife shook the snow off their fur by the door they had just passed through. “You were so cold I didn’t think you would survive.”

“What's the last thing you remember?” Asked Yaz. The Doctor slowly chewed and swallowed a mouth full of her dinner-come-breakfast, thinking.

“I was talking to the scientists and was about to leave. I was grabbed from behind and that’s when I was drugged. I managed to escape and I ran. I don't remember making it outside.” She looked towards Tarkhan. “Thank you for finding me. And looking after my friends.”

“That’s horrible, Doc.” Graham looked disgusted. 

“Yeah, proper bad.” Ryan agreed.

“I spotted some soldiers when I was searching for you,” said Khulan. “We assume they were hunting you. The storm is showing no sign of breaking today so you do not have to worry about them reaching here. We will escort you to your ship when you wish to leave.”

The Doctor bowed her head.

“We shall leave as soon as it is safe to go, I don’t want you risking yourselves for me. But thank you all the same.”

* * *

The Doctor spent the rest of the day alternating between pacing circles around the fire and napping under her pile of blankets on the bed. She curled herself up so tightly that only her blond hair peeked out from underneath the colourful mound.

Ryan and Yaz clustered around Khulan’s loom, Ryan asking questions about it’s construction and Yaz asking about the meanings of the colours and designs she had woven. Both had a go on it, good-naturedly laughing when neither of their work was up to par which Khulan had to fix. They drew her some designs from home, Yaz marvelling that across the galaxy and several millennia away from home she was teaching an alien about Nordic style ‘ugly Christmas jumpers’ and Ryan trying to recall anything he had seen on those history and culture documentaries he used to watch with his Nan. 

Graham chatted to the Doctor when she was awake, trying to calm her from the restless energy she was filled with, and cleaning and sharpening metal tools with Tarkhan when she was sleeping.

The hours passed and soon it was time to sleep again, blizzard still roaring outside.

The Doctor was wide awake now, her Time Lord biology healing her faster than a human. Thanks to the wood burner her clothes had dried and she was dressed in them again, a blanket draped around her shoulders the only sign she wasn't quite back to her resilient self. 

She spent the night as the others were sleeping swapping between the tasks that Khulan had left her to do: scrubbing out well used cooking pots, carving sewing needles out of bone, oiling the metal tools that Graham had sharpened earlier, whittling spindles out of wood and other domestic chores as there was no technology to distract herself with.

Her restless energy eventually faded and she slept the last few hours of night propped up against the side of her bed, whittling knife in hand.

* * *

The next morning the storm outside had noticeably lessened and after breakfast Khulan came in after feeding her herd announcing that it would be safe to travel in a few hours.

The Doctor looked up from where she was stoking the fire.

“Then we'll get out of your hair as soon as we can. Hopefully we'll get to our ship before anyone searching for me finds that you have been harbouring me, I don't want you to get into trouble.”

As the shudders of the yurt lessened to a stop the Time Lord and her three human friends gathered their few belongings and wrapped up for the walk to the Tardis.

When they emerged out into the snowy landscape the sun was just starting to peek through the thick clouds and snow was occasionally blown into their faces. The drifts underfoot sometimes rose above knee height which was a struggle for all but the taller Nerguiens, especially Ryan whose balance was affected more than the others but was saved from plunging into the fluffy white by Graham and the Doctor hovering (to both his annoyance and relief) at either elbow. 

It was an hour before a speck of blue appeared between the snow covered trees. The Doctor surged on ahead, excited to see her Tardis again. 

She reached it first, laying a hand on the warm wood then turning to her friends as they reached her side.

“You three ready to go?” They nodded, huddled in their coats, chilling quickly after their tiring trudge. 

Her attention moved towards the two aliens who had guided them back to the Tardis and had sheltered them in their home from the great storm, rocking from her heels onto her toes and back again.

“Thank you for looking after me. And looking after my friends-”

“Don’t say it Doc,” muttered Graham.

“-My fam. You don’t know how grateful I am.”

“You are welcome, Doctor,” said Tarkhan. “We only wish that you had a better experience on our planet. We had no idea that the scientists would behave this way towards you.” The Doctor waved her hand in the air.

“It’s not your fault. Just warn the rest of your tribe that their guests that they may have the same experience that I had. There is no blame I could lay on you, you looked after me and my fam so well.”

The Doctor put a hand up to the scarf around her neck, the same one she had left with two days before and had been reunited with that morning, and made to remove it.

“Keep it,” said Khulan, smiling and brought out a pile of colourful fabrics out of the bag she had slung over her shoulder. “I have something for each of you.”

She handed out her pile: a blanket each for the boys, a scarf and shawl for Yaz and a shawl for the Doctor.

“Surely there is something I can do to repay you,” said the Time Lord, clutching the woollen garment to her chest. “You both have done far more for us than we agreed.”

“We are not so poor that we cannot be generous to our friends. And you have given us things in return - those weaving designs from your planet are sure to attract attention from passing travellers. Thank you.” 

She nodded to her hosts then motioned to the Tardis with her head.

“Come on gang, let’s go somewhere warmer this time.” She followed her friends through the doorway, giving Tarkhan and Khulan one final glance before shutting the door.

“Be safe,” she said to them, then the two aliens could only watch in amazement as the blue box before them disappeared in a swirl of white snow.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a reminder that I can be found on Tumblr at [EviesWritingJournal](https://evieswritingjournal.tumblr.com/) or [EvelynThursday](https://evelynthursday.tumblr.com/). :)


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